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Spector Euro 5LX ?

B

bassmandan5

Jun 28, 2010
4
0
#1
Thanks to everyone for helping me with my tone questions. I now have killer tone. I have another problem, I normally play with my pickups at full volume and adjust my amp to the tone and volume I need. When I play aggressively I get (for lack of a better word) a farting sound from my speakers, almost a rattling sound. I've had my head cleaned and repaired, my speaker cabinet checked out and all is well. I've played another bass thru my rig and couldn't get this to happen. I've put a new battery in my 5LX, nothing seems to help. I'm thinking I might need to upgrade my pickups but I'm not sure. Does anyone have any ideas? Thanks....Dan
 
#4
Sounds like you may be clipping the input, the output, or both. Spectors are extremely hot, and always need a pad engaged (or an active input). Typically, if you open up the control cavity, there's a trip pot in there that you can use to lower the total output of the preamp, so you can still run your volumes wide open without putting your speakers at risk.
 
#5
The Spector Euro series basses have that stupid Tonepump preamp in them. Most active preamps are boost/cut. The tonepump is all boost. So cranking your knob to its max is likely clipping the input.

I own 3 spector euro series basses and in all 3 of them I've replaced the internal preamp with an EMG, never looked back.
 
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#6
SeanSaliSE said:
The Spector Euro series basses have that stupid Tonepump preamp in them. Most active preamps are boost/cut. The tonepump is all boost. So cranking your knob to its max is likely clipping the input.

I own 3 spector euro series basses and in all 3 of them I've replaced the internal preamp with an EMG, never looked back.
Click to expand...

Even at moderate playing, I get the Tone Pump circuits overdriving the input of nearly any amp. I replaced all of mine with the Spector Haz-Lab pre-amp's and have not looked back either.

Keep the Bass and Treble knobs all the way to the right (no boost) and make sure the Active switch at the pre-amp is engaged. The pickups are fine, so don't replace them!
 
#7
It's completely possible to knock the hell out of your speakers without boosting the bass or the treble on a Spector. Are you running everything wide open on the Spector pre, or just the volumes?

If you have an active input or a -15dB pad on your pre/head, use it and you should be fine unless something is really out of place with your settings or how much power you're delivering to your cab. What are you running through?
 
#8
Gearhead17 said:
Even at moderate playing, I get the Tone Pump circuits overdriving the input of nearly any amp. I replaced all of mine with the Spector Haz-Lab pre-amp's and have not looked back either.

Keep the Bass and Treble knobs all the way to the right (no boost) and make sure the Active switch at the pre-amp is engaged. The pickups are fine, so don't replace them!
Click to expand...

Do you like the Haz-lab?

And +1 on the Spector's pups. They rock.
 
#9
SeanSaliSE said:
Do you like the Haz-lab?

And +1 on the Spector's pups. They rock.
Click to expand...

I love the Haz-Lab pre-amp! PJ Rubal (Customer Service of Spector) told me the Haz Lab was much cleaner/clearer sounding - I highly agree with that statement. The output is lower for sure. Not terribly too low or anything like that, but it seems my amp heads all like the Haz Lab pre-amps better than the TonePump.
 
#12
Just be aware that the Hazlab is one of the more expensive units out there. An Aguilar OBP-2 (or 3) might be a better choice if cost is a concern.

Also, no amount of spending and tweaking will ever get you results as good as understanding how your gear works and why things go wrong. I know it can be a frustrating process, but it's worth it. There's a good chance that swapping preamps won't make any difference and that the problem you're experiencing isn't related to the bass at all.
 
#13
Just to clarify.... the Tonepump ISN'T boost only.... that is a widely held misconception... however, there is a lot of boost. Try putting your tone controls on the bass around 1/3 and dialling back your bass volume. Bring the volume up until it starts to distort then dial back a touch. Bring up the tone controls if you need to but be aware that you may need to dial back the volume a touch if you do so...
 
#15
dystopiate said:
The tonepump is boost only. There is no cut.
Click to expand...

This is UNTRUE though widely believed. Even Stuart & PJ believed it to be true which is why it was advertised as such. Recent evidence from the ORIGINAL circuit maker in Europe has shown that something got lost in translation.

Don't believe me? Ask PJ yourself.... :rolleyes:
 
#16
I definitely will. I'm going off the printed literature and my past conversations with PJ. If there's new info out there to the contrary, I'm all for it, especially since the tonepump always sounded very mid-rangy to me. Like I said before: "no amount of spending and tweaking will ever get you results as good as understanding how your gear works and why things go wrong." So, I'm always up for finding out something widely believed is actually untrue.

Do you have a reference for the tonepump being boost/cut?
 
#17
Holy Carp! From PJ:

"thanks for the email, good to hear from you.

it's true there's a bit of cut there....very little on the bass side....we went with the easiest
answer for the masses but for the ALL NEW website I wanted to be most accurate!

have you seen the new site yet?? it's killer, so much info, etc.

Basic gain +12dB

Controls:
Bass: +14dB/-4dB @55Hz
Treble: +14dB/-12dB @6.5kHz

this info will be live on our new site in the Tech Section very soon!

I hope this info helps.
PJ"
 

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